Story Binder Gash Bell
by FierChild
Summary: My story binders will contain story ideas that are not complete. I am working on these stories and will try to work a little every day on each one. Maybe I'll be more active this way. Enjoy.
1. Become

Story Binder - Gash Bell

My story binders will contain story ideas that are not complete. I am working on these stories and will try to work a little every day on each one. Maybe I'll be more active this way. Enjoy.

Become

An ancient Legend.

Cursed twins.

How far will a king go to save his kingdom?

How much will a father regret the choice made?

An ancient spell formed by an old king. The spell was based on twin boys, and appeared, in every way, just like normal children. The difference was they held a different sort of power within them; a power that was a part of their very life force. This power could manipulate the fabric of their world. The cost, however, was the death of the twins. The world where the tournament to decide the king was held prior to earth held no name, but chaos and destruction marred every path you could walk. The king wanted to free his people's children from this world, but could not find a way before the end of his reign neared. He decided to send out the twin spell he had created.

The moment he did, the tournament books went out. The twins had been living as normal children, until the king sent them out. He did this by attacking the gentlest of the twins, who was also the key to the spell of destruction. He planned for the deaths of all his people, thereby declaring the tournament void. Once a decade had passed the end of his thousand-year-reign, he would use the King's Privilege to recall the souls of those who had fallen by his spell and return them to their bodies.

Those who stood against him were those who believed that the King's Privilege would fail him, leaving none to inhabit the world he was trying to save. When he sent the attack out against the "Twin of Light," they sent people to try and guard the child. However, one strike made it through and the twin's powers awoke. To defend against the attack, his instinct awoke a time manipulation spell that froze everyone's time. They didn't realize until the child had appeared at the side in the same moment the attack had been on its way to kill him.

Understanding only that his brother was under attack, the "Twin of Darkness" moved to hide himself and his brother. The twins were never found. The tournament abruptly began as the children who received their books vanished from their homes. A few days later, a violet mist spread over the countryside.

A long-time friend of the twins was among those chosen for the tournament, and was visited by the Twin of Light in a dream, where the boy told him everything that had occurred. Angered and saddened by the loss of everyone and everything he had, he vowed to become king and never allow this spell to be cast again. He succeeded in becoming king, and the spell was declared forbidden to all.

The spell was named "Failing Success," because it did exactly what it was supposed to do, except it also destroyed its caster, leaving a very desolate world. Only 100 children remained from the two-million populace, divided evenly amongst male and female. The king made a decree that none could live apart from a spouse. They were free to choose their own, but the choice had to be made within 20 years. If the choice was not made; he would make it for them. There were no deaths, only a slowly rebuilding kingdom, and a solitary grave none knew. No one, but the king, who had buried the twins there to remind himself everyday of the friends he had lost.

Fourteen kings later, the Earth became the new ground for the God's Trial. Six Kings after that, nearing the end of his reign, the king opened a forbidden book. Three years later, the first set of twins in 20,000 years were born.

Gash and Zeon's father made the choice he did to hopefully remove a 20,000-year-old curse that had been residing over their people. A curse none had known, but him and the kings before. Gash wouldn't know because he was a part of the curse known as 'The Twins of Sorrow'. The curse was that the next set of twins born would be the same as the children that the Failing Success created. This had caused every king create a spell that had prevented the birth of twins, and was the reason that it was known as a curse. The king of 20,000 years ago had created a way for his friends to be reconciled. Their power would be reborn into the next set of twins. This way the magic that had been intended to destroy would be used to protect, like the twins has wished. The problem was the magic required that the original intention be followed through, but the king did not want this. He managed to place a way for the twins' power to be used, but he realized too late what the cost would be. When the next king found out, he began the tradition of preventing the birth of twins. He didn't believe anyone would want to do what was needed to free the twins' power, and so the curse began.

Their father had wanted to end the reason for the spell to be needed. He opened a forbidden book, left by the old friend, as well as the book written by the king prior. Using the two spells, he managed to form the children he needed, and placed them in his wife. He knew that opened the old book would mean his end, but no one expected him to live much longer after the tournament's end. The breaking of the oath meant he would die in 30 years, and it was just long enough he believed none would know.

He also wanted to follow the last wish of his mother to end the curses that haunted their people. One of those curses prevented the people from finding those they were truly meant to guard. (They are but half of one person without the partner they are to guard.) There are three total curses the former king found. The first had been to prevent any more than one child from being born into both his and a rival family. He ended that curse by marrying his chosen who came from that family. This had been against an old family decree, but the will of his mother superseded that decree. The last two were proving to be more of a challenge. His children and a child of two worlds were the keys to ending them.

However, through all the king's efforts, there were a small group of people who knew the old book had been opened, and that the Twins of Sorrow had returned. They knew not who opened the book, but it was all too obvious who the twins were. However, as time went on and there was no sign of the strange power in either twin, those people began to believe all would be well. There was no reason to kill children if they were no threat. Some believed it was given up too easily, and they still watched the king's children, separated as they were.

One woman was actually the caretaker of the youngest prince. Yuna fell under the grips of her fear, and did everything she could to weaken the child she was to protect. It was a fear that grew worse as that tiny boy managed to become king. It was that fear that led her to do everything she could to guard that child. There would be no attacks to threaten his life. No attacks to awaken him, no attacks would bring back the Child of Destruction.

Even if she had to die to prevent it; or if he did.

A small child with downy white hair and a ragged white flowing shirt knelt in the center of the spotlight. His bowed head shook as small hands were folded in seeming prayer. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The words were a never-ending litany of sorrow. Kiyomaru moved forward, his steps echoed softly, bringing the child's head up to face him. The large eyes were a stormy lavender, like Zeon's, only lighter, but they seemed to be filled with a dark clouded power that the child was only barely able to hold back.

His face, however, almost brought Kiyomaru to his knees. He could see the echo of the same horror and pain that had resonated off Gash the day he died at Leo's hand. Gash's face seemed to over shadow the child's as he began to speak. "Please…" The plaintive whisper was cracked raw with unsuppressed agony. "Please don't let me kill them."

The dark clouds seemed to burst from the child. Kiyomaru threw up his hands with a startled shriek and tried to cover his face. A jolt snapped his eyes wide to stare blankly at the ceiling above him. The quiet breathing of the newest member of his family reminded him of the strange insistence Dufaux had given him about staying in his room. "Answer-Talker's a pain." He muttered, though he was supremely glad his "elder brother" was there in the room with him. He tried to settle back down, and soon drifted away to sound of Dufaux's breathing.

Kiyomaru finds his way to an ancient city by way of Dufaux's note. This is where he first hears about the "Failing Success." No one in the town knew exactly what it was, but they all knew it was made their town so difficult for the villagers to find if they left the grounds. They direct him to a shrine that had been built after the Failing Success trapped them. Heading there he finds a tunnel with some strange pictures on the walls. They were drawn onto the wall in a very specific manner.

The pictures showed two children, seemingly twins, playing. Next, the child that was mostly drawn in white was being attacked. This was followed by three more pictures. The children running, the children collapsed against each other, surrounded by the violet mist, and, finally, what looked like a scene of complete desolation. Corpses littered this picture, the twins at the center, with the same violet mist permeating the entire scene.

A phrase under the picture caught his eye. _Destruction's countdown can only be stopped once begun, and it can only begin with the ceasing of time._ Kiyomaru shuddered and headed through the other end of the tunnel. The echoes of a strange dream haunted him, _"Cease time begins destruction's countdown." "Please don't let me kill them."_

The sudden brightness at leaving the tunnel gave him pause, but when his eyes adjusted a very familiar building made him wonder if he was still somewhat blind. Gash's school building stood towering over the town before him, complete with the giant glowing ball. He watched the two little balls spinning around inside it until a sharp hiss caught his attention. Turning, he saw a slightly amused Dufaux gesturing for him to come over. Kiyomaru blushed and headed over to the one that had called him here.

He nodded to the tower. "I did that too unfortunately."

Kiyomaru grinned. "Well, we aren't supposed to be here." He glanced at Dufaux. "So when are we seeing the twins."

Dufaux raised an eyebrow at his rudeness, then sighed and shook his head. He handed Kiyomaru a small pendant that Kiyomaru quickly put on, and lead the way to a small clearing. He signaled for silence.

"Wait a second."Kiyomaru said, piecing everything together. "How long as the King's Tournament been going on?"

The strange woman frowned lightly. "I believe the God's Trial has been in use since…" She cocked her head to the side. "Well, there have been 300 kings since the start."

Kiyomaru choked. "Has it always been a human/mamodo pair?" He tried to imagine the people of old fighting. The ancient people tended to be bloodier than those of more modern times.

However, the woman shook her head. "No, the earth was not found until six kings before his current majesty. She sent a little half-grin slightly to Gash." The former world was a cold and brutal place where the children spent a year just trying to survive before the final fight for the kingship. There were no partners for them. Often times the tournament was decided within that first year." Gash looked a little pale, causing the woman to smile gently at him. It was the first smile that didn't carry that mocking air she seemed to wear. "It was an extremely brutal world." The smile faded as she seemed to lose herself in thought. "This unforgiving world seemed to be fading in on itself, and every step was a prayer it would last, and not be the last taken."

An accident awakens the countdown in Gash. Kiyomaru is with him and is aware the moment it starts. Despite being frozen, he still grabs Gash the moment the moment time restarts. This makes people think Gash teleported and prevents the spells awakening from being known by those who would seek to kill Gash in order to stop it. Zeon is aware, but doesn't fully understand. He only knows he wants to keep his brother from sight. Dufaux and Kiyomaru move the twins into hiding while they try to understand what their abilities are telling them. They know that something is needed to save their partners, but they don't know what. They only know they must keep the twins together.

They eventually find the answer (Zeon must forgotten by all, even himself.), but Zeon balks at the idea. He is furious with himself, but can't bring himself to do what he himself had done previously to his own brother. Gash also vehemently refuses and asks if there isn't another way. They continue the search despite knowing there is no other way. Kiyomaru begins writing odd notes to himself, but doesn't let anyone know what he is doing. Dufaux suspects, but knows better than to let the twins know.

It becomes a battle to keep the youngest alive as the countdown becomes known to all. The dreams that had been haunting Kiyomaru change as the original twins try to aid their ailing counterparts. Kiyomaru is the only one to hear them due to his awakening bloodline. For over five-thousand years, Kiyomaru's family has held the blood of Gash's people. As the dormant bloodline awakens, Gash begins to realize there is far more to his partner's ability to intimidate than he had known. Gash, due to his position, is the first to realize Kiyomaru's condition. He quickly tells Zeon, who takes immediate steps to ensure Kiyomaru's awakening didn't increase their problems. A fight with a party who sought to destroy Gash and Zeon caused him to fully awaken, forcing the enemy to retreat. Kiyomaru's spells are first thought to revolve around invisible hands, but was really warped space that Kiyomaru could manipulate at will.

Kiyomaru becomes the key to destroying the third and final curse on Gash's people, but the cost is again high. Kiyomaru's very blood is needed to end the final curse; his life and his will were both needed to break the spell. He could not be killed; he must choose to die. The final curse becomes necessary to break when the breaking of the second curse causing a deadly shift in the balance of power in both worlds. With the last curse broken, the power could move between both worlds with ease, instead of being forced to bottleneck through the small tunnel that connected both worlds. He is able to survive by re-swearing the broken oath of his bloodline's allegiance with the royal bloodline. He, however, manages to word it in such a manner that if Zeon and Gash's bloodline leaves the throne, his can as well.


	2. My Choice

Story Idea

Small feet slapped sharply against the stone floor. A small chest heaved as the tiny form blew past another guard. The guard turned, ready to shout. A sharp crackling followed by branching light rent the air, silencing him. White hair and sharp, cold violet eyes burned in determination. A child's face, aged by scars and burns, echoed the fire in those eyes. With a grim set to his jaw, he caught the full-grown guard and lowered him to the floor. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Testing the air, he found the scent he wanted. He turned down the hall and ducked past the dozing guards. He made his way to the small room the dozing men were supposedly guarding.

As he grasped the lock, there was another sharp crackling that was joined by electric sparks dancing around his hands. The lock snapped sharply, and the child flinched as one of the guards snorted in his sleep. Glancing back, he waited to make sure they weren't watching, and then pulled the lock off. A small child with identical features blinked blearily at the sudden sound of his door opening. His eyes widened as they landed on the unfamiliar, but familiar face. Violet eyes softened as the white-haired child smiled. "Hello, Brother."

Amber eyes burned with joy as he reached for the extended hand.

"Let's go home."

******  
Kiyomaru was heading home from Mochinoki Secondary school at his usual 6:30pm. He often passed a nearby elementary school, using the abandoned neighborhood next door to cut through to the fields faster. He grimaced as he thought about the upbraiding he'd get if his mother ever found out about this, but it was better than scaring her by being late. She would always rant about careful he should be regarding his place in this world. Given that his father was head of the military school training elite soldiers to fight, her fears weren't entirely unfounded. He just found it annoying that he had to deal with school _and_ with comforting an overprotective mother. 'Why can't she get it? The only people interested in that godforsaken father of mine are those sickening sycophants that infest this world.' He growled as he kicked a broken brick chip from his path. 'The Underworlders couldn't care less about the person that trained the army of "Those Who Die." It's not like anyone could really take them on.' If it weren't for the fact that he was old enough to be put in the army, he'd of quit school to get away from those idiots there. The teachers were getting stupider by the year, and nobody seemed to get the fact he wasn't trying to smart-off. It certainly wasn't his fault they were so inferior.

He sighed and turned to pass through the final alley out of the abandoned housing district. He failed to notice that something had been rifling through the garbage, and he slipped on some rotted meat. "Gross!" He growled and kicked the meat away. The sound of a scraping foot was eerily loud, and his head snapped up to face two scruffy looking kids. 'Hell, they almost look like toddlers.'

Indeed, both boys were small and looked extremely underfed. The almost identical features led Kiyomaru to believe they were, if not siblings, definitely related. Caked dirt matted golden blond and snow white hair. The only thing that kept them from seeming like children... was the one thing that made him feel like screaming. Their eyes were bright, like a starburst pattern, only moving. Amber gold and dark violet were not colors found in human eyes. Their features almost seemed human under all the dirt, but one could still almost make out distinct lines on their cheeks. The white-haired one shifted as he watched Kiyomaru, and placed the other one behind him. His stance was of one ready to fight.

'Definitely NOT human.' Kiyomaru slowly rose, the boys intently watching ever movement, except the golden-haired child seemed to dart his attention to Kiyomaru's bag. He shifted the bag carefully, if the kid kept looking he was going to drop it and run. Children they may seem, but Underworld children were still strong enough to take on a full grown bodybuilder, which he most definitely was not. The golden-haired boy kept flicking his attention from Kiyomaru back to the bag, so Kiyomaru got ready to run.

"It's this way, hurry!" Kiyomaru almost screamed when the voice rang out through the main alley. Both boys quickly hid behind a pile of collapsed wall. Kiyomaru himself moved into the side alley the children were hiding in and dropped down behind a rusted tin-can that had probably once served as a trash can. "We've got to get there before the fight gets worse."

Kiyomaru waited until the people passed by, and then peered out after them. They were heading in the direction of the elementary school. He frowned wondering what could have upset the children of that school so much. Young children generally didn't cause enough of a ruckus to panic adults like that.

A yelp echoed out from behind him causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. He spun around to see the white-haired boy dragging his 'brother' away. The golden-haired boy had apparently figured Kiyomaru's distraction enough to go snooping in his bag. However, Kiyomaru had a trap inside to prevent nosy 'friends' from digging through his stuff. The boy was clutching a slightly red finger that was currently shoved in his mouth. He watched for a second; then tried to think about what would have the boy's attention so strongly.

Both children jumped when he snapped his fingers, the sound echoing sharply off the walls of the alley. Mostly ignoring the ruckus from the school, he moved the bag in front of him, and began to dig through it. He held the mouth at an angle so the two boys could see what he was doing. Finally locating his query, he pulled an untouched sandwich from lunch out of his bag. Both boys snapped their attention to the food, but despite seeming hungry, neither moved. Though, for the younger seeming brother, that might have been because he was still being held.

Thinking for a second, Kiyomaru gently dug his fingers into the sandwich, pulling it apart. He tried to keep both halves as even as possible, then held the food as far from him as he could. His fingers had gotten it messy enough without him dropping it. He may not particularly like Underworlders, but he certainly wouldn't let children starve on the Day of Healing. It was an old, mostly antiquated holiday, but it was still a part of his life and his past. Someone had chosen to save his family on this day, so would he choose to save.

He jolted slightly when two hands topped with sharp little claws scraped against his hands, grabbing the sandwich halves he held out. It seemed he had been adequately distracted for the golden-haired boy to feel safe enough to snatch the food. His brother sharply snarled something in a foreign sounding tongue when the boy made it back to him, and the child flinched. His chin went up stubbornly and he held the food out. With a snarl the white-haired brother snatched the food from him and sat down back facing his brother. The golden-haired child only smiled as he chewed on the sandwich.

While the boys were eating, Kiyomaru dug through his bag again trying to find the cookies that his mother always snuck into his bag. He didn't really like sweets, but his mother still tried to shove the stuff down his throat every chance she got. He jumped as an explosion rang out from the school. Then he understood that the fight at the school had nothing to do with the children it taught.

There was an Underworlder there.

He turned back to the two Underworld boys, only to find them both staring. He realized they had probably been watching him since he'd started rifling through his bag. He flushed a little at having forgotten the children saw him as a potential threat, but he shook that thought away. At least they had finished the sandwiches. "Listen," He told them quietly, hoisting his bag onto his shoulder. "I know you have little reason to trust me, but if that fight at the school gets any worse, it will pull both of you in." They were both still listening, but the elder seeming brother was starting to look pissed. He forged on ahead, hoping the boy would understand. "I'm not saying you have to stay long, just long enough for the fighting to stop. Then you can just walk out of the house."

The younger child looked a little hopeful, but the elder just snarled. "And you expect us to just follow you." The child's voice was sharp and filled with venom. He had been hurt too many times to have faith. But Kiyomaru read a little deeper as he watched him pull his brother further behind him. "Stupid fool." The boy hissed. "I'm not going to fall for-"

"Wait." His brother cut him off. "I want to go."

The elder glanced at his brother and pushed him a little further from Kiyomaru. "We can't. He would hurt us like everyone else."

The golden-haired boy just looked at his brother with a weak smile. "You said you could handle anything."

"This is entirely different." The elder snapped, trying to get his brother to see reason. He turned back to Kiyomaru with a snarl. "He may seem kind-"

"I'm tired." These quiet words seemed to kill the anger that was in the white-haired boy. The younger child just seemed to sigh. "I'm so very, very tired, onii-san." The little body drooped, looking for all the world like a broken willow bough. "I wanna stop running. I wanna go home. I'm tired, onii-san."

Kiyomaru just swallowed as he watched the white-haired boy wilt at his brother's words. This was way more than he had thought it was. It was just supposed to be two misplaced boys he could find a way to lead home. Instead, it seemed he had found two orphaned children, who wanted a home. 'Hell…' He thought weakly. 'I'm not old enough for this.'

'But old enough or not,' he watched the white-haired pull his brother over to him. 'This is what I got.' He was mildly surprised the white-haired boy let himself be lifted as he picked both boys up. He had thought the boy might insist on walking. But when he felt both boys slump against him, he thought that maybe they were both very, very tired. He knew he would need help, but he also knew there was no one he could call. Underworld children were to be killed on sight, not saved.

He thought about his options as he trudged through the muck of the abandoned housing. He thought about his mother only to flinch as he remembered the time. He was glad it was only about a five-minute hike through the fields he just entered, because his mother was going to call any minute. If he didn't answer that call, she'd have a team of global guards outside the house, and he'd never be able to help these kids. He sped up slightly grumbling when the bag began to strike his side. He was startled when the golden-haired child grabbed it and stopped its movement. He glanced down to thank the boy when a voice had him stiffening. The boys tensed as well.

Forcing himself to relax, he turned to the voice. A man, who seemed to be a city protector, was running to them. 'Oh crap,' Kiyomaru thought. 'I was right about the Underworld threat.' Gripping the two boys tighter, he forced a pleasant grin on his face as the man approached. Both boys kept their faces pressed against his shoulders. They were completely still and silent.

The man glanced at the children before turning his sharp gaze to Kiyomaru. "Where are you coming from, and how did the children get into this state?"

Kiyomaru thought quickly, "I was coming from the elementary. My home's not much further." He said keeping his tone a little worried. "My cousins," he felt the children twitch, "go to that school, and when I got there I found them at the front gate. The city protectors were coming, so I thought I should get them out of there." Kiyomaru silently thanked whatever deity was up there for making the procedures for dealing with attacks the same for all grades.

The man gave him a mild frown. "Try not to do that next time." He grimaced. "Though heaven forbid this happen again." He glanced at the children again. "The school needs to be certain all children are accounted for."

Kiyomaru let himself flinch at the scolding in the man's expression and nodded. "I'm sorry, sir. They just seemed stressed and I wanted to get them home."

The man nodded, having noted the slump of both boys, and the fact that neither raised their heads to look at the stranger near them. "I understand. Get them home and cleaned up." He smiled gently. "I'll let the school know that some of the kids were picked up."

Kiyomaru nodded, relieved that he was getting away with this. "Thank you, sir." He quickly headed for home.

The golden-haired child lifted his head just enough to look at Kiyomaru. "Why did you say we were cousins?"

Kiyomaru frowned as he tried to decide how to explain. "Well, I'm only fifteen, so, if I told the truth, they would take to a home and you'd be stuck with whoever they chose to leave you with." He shrugged, "I just thought maybe you'd feel safer with only one person to deal with, rather than five or six. Especially since I'm younger and not one for fighting."

The two children were silent, leaving him with a fear that he had said too much, or worse, something bad. His fears were eased when the eldest of the two clenched a hand tighter against his shirt, and the other snuggled further into his neck. He quirked a grin when he felt a small hand toying with the hair at the back of his neck. 'Definitely kids, not human, but definitely kids.'

The trip home was quiet, and he put the boys down in the bathroom, dropping his bag on the floor outside the door. He headed to his room and scrounged about for some clothes they could wear. His eyes fell upon a compact of makeup he had used one Halloween, before people had forgotten he was a kid like them. Grabbing the clothes, he picked up the compact and headed to the bathroom. He wondered how to tell, without telling, the kids they could hide those lines on their faces with the makeup. He came into the bathroom, avoiding looking in the direction of the boys that had gone dead quiet, and glanced in the mirror.

The dark circles under his eyes made him snort viciously. He put the compact down and ran the tap to splash his face. Grabbing a towel, he wiped his face dry. A sharp ringing made itself known as Kiyomaru realized the phone had been ringing for a while. He dropped the towel with a yelp and bolted to answer before his mother decided he had been kidnapped. Seizing the receiver he put it to his ear, "Hello… Kiyomaru speaking." His voice came out breathless.

"Oh thank goodness." His mother's voice was filled with relief. "I thought you weren't going to answer."

Kiyomaru finally managed to right his breathing after his mad dash and grinned. "Sorry, Mom." He said. "I was in the middle of something." He paused briefly when the two boys walked in. He grinned further when he noticed they had no lines he could see. 'Good.'

"Kiyomaru?" His mother's voice snapped him out his thoughts.

"Ah, sorry Mom, just thinking." He flinched at how spacey he seemed. He started looking for the things he needed to make the turkey sandwiches.

His mother just chuckled. "Well I'll let you get back to what you were doing." She sighed. "Take care, Kiyomaru."

"Yeah, Mom." Kiyomaru said hurriedly, grabbing a knife from the drawer. "Thanks, bye."

"Bye." His mother's voice held the same melancholy it had since the day his father left. Kiyomaru ignored it and waited for his mother to hang up. He set the knife down and dropped the phone back on the cradle with a sigh. He turned to grab the knife, only to find it missing. He stared blankly at the place he knew he set it down. A soft growl made him turn to the kids. The youngest was giving his brother an extremely irritated look and was holding the knife he had obviously snatched from him.

He blinked. "I kinda need that for the sandwiches." He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to react. He realized grabbing the knife probably hadn't looked good to the brothers, but it seemed like the youngest was going to trust him no matter what. 'That would explain why his brother grabbed the knife.' He thought, as the golden-haired boy gave him back the utensil. 'If his brother's going to choose to blindly trust, he would need a weapon in case things go wrong.' He watched the two with a frown; then turned back to the fridge to grab everything else.

Supper went well, though he did discover Underworld children eat far more than his budget was going to allow. 'I'm going to need a job.' He thought with a grumble. He set the dishes he was cleaning into the dishwasher. Once the sink was empty, he went to start the cycle. He stopped for a second and glanced back at the boys, who were currently arguing in that strange guttural language. He rubbed at his hair, and walked away from the dishwasher. He grabbed his bag from outside the bathroom and threw it near his desk.

The sound of the dishwasher being opened let him know the knife had been taken again. 'I only have three. I hope this one doesn't disappear for good.' It made him nervous to allow the Underworld boy a weapon, but he wanted the kids to feel safe at his house. If that meant giving them a weapon, then he would give them a weapon. 'Just don't do anything stupid, Kiyomaru, that way they have no reason kill you while you sleep,' though the golden-haired child seemed to be keen on keeping him alive. He walked back into the kitchen to start the washer cycle. Glancing over at the two boys, he noticed the younger one was sulking, and the older one was ignoring the boy and glaring at him. Slightly irritated, he pointed to the door. "It's not locked."

The simple phrase was supposed to remind them they weren't trapped, so it surprised Kiyomaru when both boys flinched like he had struck them. The younger one's eyes jumped between his brother, the door, and Kiyomaru and the other just stared at his lap. Kiyomaru sighed when he saw the knife. The eldest was holding it in his hands. He frowned for a second when he realized he hadn't seen it before, but shrugged it off. "You know if you want to keep that, I can find a holster for it."

"I don't need one." The boy muttered.

Kiyomaru rolled his eyes. "Fine, but don't get cut." A minor twitch from the boy confused him, but again, he chose to ignore it. They were Underworld boys, so he was probably bugging their instinct a bit. 'So sue me, I'm human, and you kids are making no sense whatsoever to me.'

He glanced back to the knife, only to see it missing again. He frowned, and then turned sharply and walked toward his room, hoping the spike of fear didn't alert the kids. 'Magic, he's already old enough to use magic.' The sound of rapid little feet told him the kids had sensed his fear spike, and had obviously come to right conclusion. He stopped moving.

A sharp yank sent him slamming into the floor. A yelp from the youngest told him the eldest had grabbed him. He was forced onto his back and the knife from dinner was shoved against his throat. The two brothers were arguing in the incomprehensible language, but the blade seemed to press harder every time the elder spoke.

"Um, oww." Both brothers snapped their attention to him, and he blushed when he realized that had probably sounded stupid. The knife at his throat, however, was not conducive to clear thinking. The white-haired brother raised an eyebrow, while the younger brother seemed to trying to figure out why he had reacted like that. 'Good luck with that.' Kiyomaru thought sourly.

Attempting to pull his neck away from the blade, he tried to talk. "You know," The blade twitched, but didn't move any closer. "If you kill me, I can't buy food." The elder brother's expression was quickly turning back to the same glare he had given him in the alley, but the younger brother seemed to come to a decision. He walked over, and shoved his brother off Kiyomaru, grabbing the knife in process. Judging from the elder brother's expression, he was just as surprised as Kiyomaru. Kiyomaru thought about sitting up, but figured it might be better to stay down. Besides, the dizziness from being body-slammed into the floor hadn't quite left yet.

He yelped when a small hand pulled him up from the floor and steadied him. The knife was placed in his back pocket, and golden-haired boy moved in front of him. "My name's Gash." He said, pointing to himself. His brother started hissing at him, but Gash ignored him and pointed in his direction, still facing Kiyomaru. "He's my twin, and, by order of birth, he's older." The boy fell silent and stared at Kiyomaru expectantly.

Kiyomaru blinked at the lack of name for his brother, as well as at Gash's name itself. However, he decided to chalk it off to an Underworld thing. "My name's Kiyomaru. Takamine Kiyomaru." The younger twin smiled at him, leaving him wondering what had just happened. The elder brother grumbled something. "Huh?" He turned to face him.

"Zeon." The boy muttered.

Kiyomaru just looked between the two wondering just how things had gone from almost being killed, to being introduced to two Underworld boys. 'Sleep's not coming easy tonight.' He thought, pushing himself up. He pulled the knife out of his pocket. "I'm putting this in the sink, and then I'm going to bed." He headed to the kitchen, dropped the knife in the sink, and headed to his room.

Once in there, he stopped. There was nowhere for the kids to sleep. Grumbling about evil children and stupid consciences, he dragged his old futon out and shook it. It seemed fine for sleeping, so he threw it on the floor, and grabbed some bedding. Tossing a pillow from his bed on the futon, he turned to the kids. "I'm going to sleep here until I can find some better sleeping arrangements. Try not to bug me until about nine tomorrow, then make all the noise you want, cause I'm supposed to be awake by then." With that, he turned from the kids, and all the stress of the day, laid down on the futon, and went to sleep.

He woke up the next day when Gash jumped on the bed, landing on top of him. Completely disoriented, he tried to figure out how he ended up here. Gash, grinning wickedly, shoved the clock in his view. 'Nine o five.' He thought, blinking. His eyes snapped wide and with a yelp, he jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom to get ready. Being late for school would make people think he didn't want to go, which might have been true, but he didn't want people to know it. Thankfully, his school was about a twenty-minute jog from his house, and his first class started at ten. He was out the door fifteen minutes later, leaving behind two very curious children.

*****  
Kiyomaru slid into his seat at five to ten. His teacher greeted him with the usual scowl, like everyone else, he was waiting for Kiyomaru to quit and join the army his father trained. 'Like, hell.' He thought, viciously. His thoughts wandered to the children he had taken in. 'Did their parents die, or were they left behind in an attack?' He briefly considered they were kidnapped, but that seemed too out there.


End file.
